~ snails in art

(115) BIM H 8

In the Bibliothèque Interuniversitaire de Montpellier, this large manuscript (entitled “Recueil”) is composed on three parts: Justiniani Institutionum libri IV, Innomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi imperatoris Justiniani liber autenticorum incipit (Libri XII), and Incipiunt Consuetudines feudorum. Although it has been found in the abby of Clairveaux, it was written in Italy and is dated to the 14th century [1].

On folio 097v, a monk is pointing at a snail. The dextral shell is narrowly coiled, the last part with the aperture free from the rest of the shell. The head of the animal looks more like a duck. Perhaps an other invention of the malacomorph hybrid?